Jerusalem Crown: The Bible of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

"Keter Yerushalayim", the "Jerusalem Crown", is the first edition of the Aleppo Codex as a printed Bible. This codex is the oldest known complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible. The famous grammarian and scribe Aaron ben Asher inserted the vocalization signs, accentuation marks and the Masorah. Because he also proofread the manuscript several times over, it became the authoritative text due to its accepted accuracy. After a long odyssey the codex found its way to Jerusalem in 1958, with unfortunately a major portion missing. In 1976 a facsimile of the manuscript was published and inspired the book edition closely resembling the original text. Thanks to the painstaking work of the renowned Scholar Rabbi Mordechai Breuer, the lost parts - almost the entire Pentateuch - could be reconstructed. To emulate the original, the "Jerusalem Crown" is laid out in three columns and employs a unique typeface re-creating the calligraphy of the Aleppo Codex. The census for the chapters and verses as well as the names of the weekly torah portions and their divisions for the synagogal reading were added. A short appendix explains the principles of the text recreation and lists the deviations from the standard Leningrad Codex. Dr. Mordechai Glatzer, a globally recognized expert in the history of printing, edited the companion volume. It contains contributions on various aspects of the manuscript's significance and an in-depth description of its history. Notably, Dr. Yosef Ofer's introduction to the Masorah clarifies from where the codex's authority stems and why its text can be regarded as nearly error free. The prestigious Special Edition of the "Keter Yerushalayim" is limited to 480 hand-numbered, gilt-edged copies. They are bound in richly embossed and partially gold-tooled crimson leather, accompanied by a hard-cover leather-backed version of the companion volume. The books are displayed in an elegant presentation box covered in gold-embossed dark blue raw silk.